* After yesterday’s 0-0 draw with Nyasa Big Bullets, the gap in points against runners-up Mighty Wanderers is 5 points
* Maximum points for the Nomads after their remaining 4 games is 65 and from 3 wins, the Bankers will accumulate 67 points
By Duncan Mlanjira
If Silver Strikers win their next three of the four remaining matches of the TNM Super League 2024, leaders Silver Strikers will win the title with a game in hand.
At 58 points following the 0-0 draw with Nyasa Big Bullets yesterday at at Silver Stadium, the Bankers will amass 67 points if they win the next three games, including that against runners-up Mighty Wanderers, whose maximum points from their four remaining matches if 65 points.
The two are separated by 5 points from same number of games while 3rd-placed Nyasa Big Bullets have pulled away with one point from the spot’s contenders, Mzuzu City Hammers, whom they shared at 44 points prior to The People’s Team’s encounter against the Bankers.
However, the Bullets have four more games to play while Mzuzu City Hammers only have two with the Bullets needing to win two games to secure the 3rd place — against Civil Service United on Wednesday and Mulanje-based FOMO FC the following Sunday.
After the match, coach Peter Mponda is quoted by Silver Strikers Media as saying his side was looking for maximum points but a point from the match was a fair result.
“We had a good game today as it was a tactical tight match but it has ended goalless which is not bad,” he told the club media. “We were playing a side that has won the league several times and a side that is defending the championship.
“So, I feel we are good with the result. We are now 5 points clear and we need to work hard more to win the league,” he said.
His counterpart, Kalisto Pasuwa also admitted it was a fair result: “We lost several chances in the second half but faced a strong first-half challenge from Silver,” he is quoted as saying.
The game came just two weeks when the two teams met in the Top 8 Cup final where Bullets defended for the title with a 1-0 win in the final while in June, the Bankers won 1-0 in the first round of the TNM Super League 2024.
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According to stats compiled by Nyasa Big Bullets Media, in their now 22 meetings, The People’s Team have had eight wins against Silver, four since 2013 and the last league victory for Bullets came in 2022 season at Kamuzu Stadiun where they scored in the opening 23 minutes to hammer the Bankers 3-1.
A fortnight ago, Bullets won 1-0 over Silver Strikers to defend the Airtel Top 8 and in 2021, Pasuwa’s men won 5-4 on penalties in the same Airtel Top 8 final.
Last season, they beat Silver 3-1 in the semifinals of the same Airtel Top 8 and 4-2 in the Castel Challenge Cup. At the start of this season, the Bullets were 7-6 winners as they defended the Charity Shield for a 6th successful time.
Silver’s last victory over the Bullets came in June this season when Chinsinsi Maonga scored late in the second half to secure a 1-0 win. It was their first victory since 2021 when Maxwell Phodo — now with The People’s Team — scored late to win hosts all three points at Silver Stadium.
The Bankers are unbeaten in the 26 games played in this campaign, in which they won 16 and drew 10, scoring 50 goals while conceding 14. The second highest scorers are Mighty Wanderers with 52 goals in which they also conceded 14.
Yesterday, heroics of Silver Strikers goalkeeper George Chikooka earned him the Man of the Match award, and his 17th clean sheet since the start of the season.
He was declared by Super League of Malawi (SULOM) to have secured the TNM Super League 2024 Golden Gloves with 6 games still to play for the Bankers before the triumph against MAFCO in which he conceded a goal and now the 0-0 result against the Bullets.
Chikooka is enjoying a dream campaign with the Bankers after sealing his move from Chitipa United earlier this year and he merited himself into the national team in both the FIFA World Cup 2026™ and Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) qualifiers.
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